Martina Topley Bird is one of British pop’s great mavericks. When she first cast strange and exhilarating shadows over contemporary music on Tricky’s ‘Maxinquaye’ in 1995 no one was expecting the arrival of such a precocious young talent. The times were demanding conservative, retro-minded Britpop. Instead, the pair conjured up an intimate yet other-worldly form of down tempo, with Martina’s vocals acting as celestial foil to the blunted genius of the music, causing critics to fall over themselves and cash-till’s to work overtime. Martina has guested on a who’s who of contemporary music, including David Holmes, Gorillaz, DIPLO, Primus and The John Spencer Blues Explosion, developing her craft as both a singer and songwriter along the way.Soundchess is glad to present this excerpt from Martina and her loyal Ninja's concert, in the Bravo Caffè of Bologna, instruments played: electric piano, harpsichord, ukulele, balafon, acoustic \ electric guitar, battery, a metallophone, and of course Martina's voice.